Howdy
I have seen adverts for things like 'get a free trolley dash when you list with ray White'
And I've just noticed that Bayleys offer Airpoints.
What are some other extras we can score?
As much as i loathe real estate agencies in new Zealand in general, it'll probably be a necessary evil for us this time.
Oh thank you, very definitely going to negotiate, especially as we thought it’d be a bit interesting to get the agent who sold it to us on board (hey, she knows what we paid etc)
I would go to market to as many local agents as you can justify the time to talk to, but also try to get some independent feedback (not just referees that the agent provides!)
To do that, start watching houses for sale, and noting the agents, then you can (try to) contact those vendors and see what they say, but note that some settlements can be quite short, so if you are going to knock on someones door, you'll need to do it before they have moved out, else you'll get the purchasers - which is a different perspective altogether I guess :-)
Yep, a thousand times this. Agents are NOT working for the seller, as much as they would have you believe they are. And they're definitely not working for the buyer either. They're looking after themselves: for example sometimes they have to sell a house that they themselves wouldn't buy and, if they weren't agents, they wouldn't recommend to anyone else. It's just part of the job and without question they are all after the commission on such a sale. They get more commission from closing a sale quickly and moving into the next one than they do spending time truly getting the best price for you.
I'd never considered proposing to reshape their commission like that - that's a brilliant move, so long as you're at least confident in your ballpark sale price. If you're off by 100k you'll either end up not selling or get far less than you would have, and in an uncertain market there's certainly that risk. But they will talk up how much they think they can sell it for. Use that against them in your calculations: "Look, if you really sell my house for what you say you can, you'll be better off!"
And one last thing: don't let them talk you into an auction. Just don't. They're not worth it unless you have a very desirable property in a very hot market. And 99% of people don't.
And - back on topic - as Alan suggests if you get another $5-10k out of selling your house, you'll be far better off than any freebies the agent might offer.
Specifically with the 'trolley dash' offer.
I am very confident in my ability to grab ~$3k of goods in a minute from the new world that Im thinking of. There would be days of planning. (im making a wee joke too if it isnt obvious over text).
There's shop fittings that we could use to get meat. The entire cabinet for the expensive wine is going. I got this.
so long as you're at least confident in your ballpark sale price
Bear in mind that the 'ballpark sales price' is essentially the one that they give to you, so they can hardly argue over it.
Often, and maybe most of the time, the agents will say they will get $100 for your property, then once you are signed up, start to try to get you to expect less and less (to make a quick sale easier for the agent).
don't let them talk you into an auction. Just don't
I totally agree with that.
Personally, I would never buy at an auction ever, and I know many others who are the same. That means that by going to auction, you are probably already ruling out a number of potential purchasers and thus reducing the actual price you achieve, regardless of how well you think you did at the actual auction.
I agree with this too.
Also, kinda related, I buy/sell allot on TradeMe, and one thing 99% of the time is true, when you or someone sells something in an auction on TM, they're always getting less then others who have set a buy now, at a higher amount.
The only time I would do an auction is if you want/need a sale asap. (or have a super desirable product, but even then, if others have the same product listed with buy now, bidders aren't going to bid more then the buy now on other listings.)
And one last thing: don't let them talk you into an auction. Just don't. They're not worth it unless you have a very desirable property in a very hot market. And 99% of people don't.
When we were buying our first home we weren't able to attend auctions because they want a deposit upfront that was wrapped up in kiwisaver etc.
When my parent sold a couple of years ago, the agent was desperate to get the sale, that they offered to pay for the marketing. So if my parents didn't end up selling and getting the price they wanted, they wouldn't have had any costs. That is normally where the risk and cost for the seller is. But it was a particular type of house which the agent really wanted to sell.. Luckily they sold it, although ironically to someone they knew . The agent is really there for the negotiation with the buyer, and creating a separation between buyer and seller.
More than the freebies, definitely negotiate the fees / structure.
I have always done that (except the first time - you live and learn), and have gotten a much better deal that makes more sense than the 'standard' agreements that are in the REA's favour.
I can't recall off the top of my head what their starting point was last time (few years ago now), but it was something like (I'm making up the numbers but the structure is what I am really referring to):
Please excuse any mathematical errors!
4% on the first $500,000 then
3% on the next $250,000 and
2% thereafter
of the sale price
On a $1m sale, that would come to $20,000 + $7,500 + $5,000 = $32,500 so I would net $967,500.
On a $1.05m sale, that would come to $20,000 + $7,500 + $6,000 = $33,500 and I would net $1,016,500
Few agents would spend a lot of time or effort to get me the extra $50,000 ($49,000 net of commission) for the $1,000 extra in their pocket - they would put that effort into selling another house for someone else, which is perfectly rational for them.
Using $1m as the amount that the agents were generally saying the property would fetch (just for sake of example), my view was that a muppet (or even me personally) could get, say, $900,000 without any effort. Getting $1m was what almost any competent agent could get, and getting $1.1m would require a stellar agent.
Therefore, I offered the following:
0% up to $900,000
30% on the next $100,000
50% on anything over $1m
If they sold for $1m, they would get $30,000 and I would net $970,000 - I'm happy with that (the agent kind of so-so, but okay)
If they sold for $1.05m they would get $55,000 and I would net $995,000 - Very happy with that (and the agent also very happy)
I can't recall the exact numbers, but the point is, at the margin, and in the final negotiation, I wanted every dollar to matter to them as much as to me to forestall them trying to talk me down (it would cost them as much as it would me), and instead work on the potential buyers.
Obviously there are others things in there, such as the REA paying tax on the commission, but it not being tax deductible to me, which blunts / distorts things (as all taxes do of course), but it seemed to work, and we got more than the agents had suggested we would. Might just have been the market - we'll never really know.